


when you say nothing at all

by drowninginmyworries



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Fluff, pure fluff, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22705318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drowninginmyworries/pseuds/drowninginmyworries
Summary: They say it best when they say nothing at all; A dozen wordless ways Jake and Amy say, "I love you."
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 28
Kudos: 101





	1. Holding Them While They're Shaking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Estelle (Fielding)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fielding/gifts).



> Do you all know how hard it is to sneak around your dear friend/beta's back while you try and plan a surprise? The answer, VERY hard! 
> 
> This is a Valentine's Day gift for the always wonderful @vernonfielding. Because you're amazing, and special, and a great friend. And also, I love you. <3 
> 
> Special thanks to @amydancepants-peralta for the help with this one. :)

After a loud clap of thunder, the living room TV abruptly goes black, interrupting Jake’s weekly Die Hard viewing.

He groans loudly, his head falling back against the couch in exasperation. 

_ Perfect.  _ He was having an  _ amazing  _ day off, thank you very much, until this stupid thunderstorm had to go and ruin it.

Jake’s moping is cut short when he hears the front door jiggle, then open.

Instantly, he brightens, because even watching the greatest movie of all time falls short to a night in cuddling with his wife.

“Hey, babe!” he calls, but when he turns to look at her, his heart seizes. 

Amy is absolutely  _ drenched,  _ dripping water onto the floor of their apartment. Her entire body’s trembling, and even from the couch, Jake can tell her lips are blue. 

Instantly, he launches himself towards her. He should probably go get a towel or change of clothes, but right now, all he can think to do is throw his arms around her. 

Her skin is cold as ice, and he flinches when she burrows her face into the warmth of his neck, but he tightens his grip on her. 

“M-My umbrella got blown away a-and it was just pouring  _ s-so _ hard,” Amy begins, her voice barely a whisper. Her teeth are chattering so much she’s struggling to form words.

“You’re home now,” Jake soothes quietly, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Let’s get you warmed up.” 

He takes her hand and leads her to their room, and he makes good on his promise to warm her up - in more ways than one.


	2. Tucking the Sheets Around Them When They Stir During the Night

Amy always falls asleep before him. 

Jake normally takes an extra fifteen or twenty minutes to go under. Amy always tells him that he shouldn’t be on his phone in the half-hour leading up to bed and that his constant late-night browsing of Reddit is to blame for his difficulty sleeping. 

_ “It disrupts your circadian rhythms,”  _ she’ll always say. 

And every time she tells him, he always fondly rolls his eyes and answers,  _ “But these funny goat videos won’t be on the front page tomorrow!”  _

Jake always gets the exact same response from her: An exasperated eye roll and a kiss on the cheek. 

Disrupted sleep schedule aside, falling asleep after Amy is actually pretty great. Watching her drift off is always  _ extremely  _ cute. 

Right now is no exception as her mouth hangs open, just the tiniest bit of drool escaping from the corner. 

Grinning hugely, Jake opens the camera app on his phone to snap a picture. He gets the perfect, most adorably incriminating angle, but as he presses the button, a loud shuttering noise sounds out.

He freezes, and she immediately shifts, her face scrunching up. She doesn’t wake up though, and Jake lets out a long breath, relieved. 

Then, he notices her movement made the blanket fall to just above her waist, and he pulls it back up to tuck around her shoulders. 

He smiles dopily at the sight, and he’s unable to resist snapping another photo of her, all cozy and warm beside him. 

Jake sets the picture to be his lockscreen before finally curling around Amy and falling asleep with a lazy smile on his face. 


	3. Giving Them a Kiss While They're Sick

Amy’s well aware that Jake is _horrible_ at getting out of bed in the mornings. She always has been, ever since the early days of their partnership. 

He’s gotten better at it since they got married, but the amount of mornings where she leaves for work without him still outnumber the ones where they leave together, their intertwined hands swinging between them as they walk to the car. 

Despite his improvement, Amy isn’t surprised to see him still balled up under the sheets when she gets out of the shower, curled in on himself like a hedgehog. She sighs before stepping forward and placing her hand on his shoulder to rouse him. 

Amy frowns when he’s hot to the touch though, and when she presses her palm to his forehead, she finds that he’s clammy and burning up. 

He groans lowly, rolling over onto his back, his eyes suddenly snapping open when he feels Amy’s touch. 

“Oh god Ames, I’m up, I’m so sorry,” he rushes, sitting up quickly. Suddenly, he grabs his head, clearly motion sick. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” she starts, keeping her voice soft. “You’re burning up, Jake, lie down.” 

He collapses back against the bed with a grunt, and she can’t resist ruffling his hair, making him smile. 

“Don’t go,” he mumbles. “You’re the best medicine.”

Amy chuckles quietly, leaning down to press a sweet, lingering kiss to his cheek.

“Go back to sleep, babe. I’ll tell Holt you’re sick and call the doctor for you, okay?” 

“Best wife ever.” 

Then, he tilts his head up, puckering his lips. 

Against her better judgement, Amy indulges him, pressing a slow, sweet kiss to his mouth, brushing his hair out of his face. 

The way his face lights up is worth waking up with a pounding headache and stuffy nose the next morning.


	4. Giving Them a Big Hug and Kiss

Jake really is the perfect cuddle partner. 

He’s adorable, constantly wearing the goofy grin she loves so much, and his body is cozy to lean against but also strong enough to make her feel safe. 

Not that Amy can’t take care of herself - she can, and she does it well. 

But there’s something about Jake that makes her feel extra protected. He’s warm and familiar, giving her such a sense of safety it’s hard to not feel completely at ease when he’s around.

Jake’s her security blanket, she thinks as she shifts against him on the couch, turning her head sideways to rest her chin on his shoulder

“Whatcha looking at?” he asks once he catches her gaze, offering her that small, special smile he has reserved just for her.

In lieu of answering with words, she leans up to kiss him, one of her arms weaving in between his back and the couch as the other reaches around his torso to pull him closer. 

Jake sighs into it, a little dreamier than he’s probably aware of, but he’s pulling her into his lap and winding his arms around her too. One of his hands strokes down her back, his fingers pressing into her muscles to try and relieve some of the tightness there. 

She squeezes him tighter, framing his face in her hands before pulling away. 

He blinks twice, slowly, before offering her a dopey smile. 

“What was that for?” he asks, quirking one of his eyebrows. 

Amy just shrugs and smiles back at him. 

“No reason.” 


	5. Lightly Kissing The Top of a Freshly Formed Bruise

Jake should’ve known better than to sneak up on Rosa. 

All he was trying to do was say hello, but when he clapped her on the back with a grin, it’d quickly been wiped off his face as she’d swiftly turned to punch his lights out. 

He hisses as he presses the ice pack to his cheek, unbelieving that he didn’t see this coming. The only silver lining is he’ll have a pretty dope bruise on his cheek for the next few days, and it’ll make him look like a badass. 

“Babe?”

He glances up from the break room couch, unable to suppress a smile as Amy walks in, concern written on her face. 

“Are you okay?” Amy asks, coming to sit beside him. “Rosa told me you got hurt.” 

Jake chuckles, lowering the ice pack. 

“Did she say she was the one that hurt me?”

“Rosa hit you?!”

“Not on purpose,” he says quickly. “I came up behind her and clapped her on the back so she punched me.”

To his shock, Amy laughs. 

“Hey!” he says, but there’s no real venom in his voice. 

“Oh come on, Jake, that’s such a rookie mistake! You should’ve known coming up behind Rosa was a bad move.” 

She looks decidedly less concerned now, amusement obvious on her face as she represses a gleeful grin. 

“You’re my wife, you’re not supposed to laugh at my pain,” Jake grumbles, turning his face away from her. 

Amy rolls her eyes, but then she smiles and places a delicate kiss on his swollen cheek. 

“Better?” she asks, her eyes twinkling. 

Jake cracks a smile, his chest suddenly feeling warm. 

“All better.”


	6. Cracking a Dumb Joke Just to See Them Smile

To say Amy’s alarmed the first time Jake has an asthma attack in front of her is an understatement. 

One minute, they’re laughing at some stupid reality show on TV at his apartment, and the next, he’s coughing violently, clutching his chest as he struggles to breathe. 

Amy jumps to her feet, eyes wide and heart racing as his breath stutters loudly. 

“I’m calling 911!” she says frantically as she reaches for her phone. 

His hand darts out to stop her, gripping her knee tightly as he continues to wheeze. 

“Inhaler,” he chokes out just as another coughing fit comes over him. “In my nightstand.” 

Amy nods and races across the apartment for his inhaler, digging around in the nightstand until she finds it underneath a pile of takeout menus and crumpled napkins.

She runs back over to the couch, ready to hand it to him, but his hands are shaking wildly. After he croaks on another attempt to breathe, she brings the inhaler to his lips and presses down on the canister. 

He coughs through the first attempt, so she tries again, sighing in relief when Jake quiets down, his coughs reduced to shaky breaths. 

Then, he turns toward her, a slow cheshire cat grin forming on his face. 

“What can I say? You take my breath away,” he says with a wink, his voice still hoarse. 

“Oh my  _ god,  _ that is so not funny!” she scolds, whacking him lightly on the shoulder, but then she’s laughing, because even in a dire situation, he manages to be absolutely  _ ridiculous. _

As ridiculous as it is, he makes her forget all about it later that night when  _ she _ is the one left breathless. 


	7. Playing Your Fingers Through Their Hair

Everything about Amy is beautiful. 

Jake’s known that from the second he first laid eyes on her, even if he was unwilling to admit it to himself for a long time. 

Her smile is probably his favorite, he thinks, with her butt a close second. 

Right now though, he’s entranced by the swish of her ponytail as she removes her makeup before bed, every twist and turn of her head sending her hair moving around in little waves.

He watches her finish washing up before she comes to bed, sliding in beside him with a squeeze to his shoulder.

“What?” she asks when she notices his lingering gaze. 

“Your hair is so pretty,” he says. 

The room’s lighting is dim, but he can still see her cheeks color at the compliment. 

“I didn’t do anything with it today, though,” she says, confused. 

“It’s still pretty. All of you is pretty.”

He lifts a hand to brush through her hair, and she lets out a quiet sigh, leaning against his shoulder. Amy pets his hair all the time, but he doesn’t do the same to her nearly as often. Now, as he cards his fingers through her silky locks, he wonders why. Her hair is so soft and shiny, and she’s nuzzling into his hand with a soft smile on her face, and he’s pretty sure it’s the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. 

Or maybe it’s a tie between this and everything else Amy does, because everything she does is cute. 

Carefully, he takes out her hair tie and starts massaging her scalp, and she emits a quiet moan in response. 

“That feels so nice,” she says sleepily, and he doubles his efforts as he presses a kiss to her cheek. 

Amy falls asleep like that, slumped against his shoulder with his hand in her hair. 

It stays there when Jake falls asleep, too. 


	8. Calming Them Down When They Have a Bad Dream

Amy’s a light sleeper. 

It’s always been an inconvenience. When she was a kid, her brothers would constantly wake her up in the middle of the night with all their shenanigans, so it was always difficult to get a good night’s sleep. 

Now though, she thinks she couldn’t be more grateful for waking up at any little noise when Jake awakens with a sharp gasp. 

Instantly, she’s up, all traces of drowsiness gone as she sits up in bed and turns on the lamp before facing Jake again. 

He’s sweating and having trouble catching his breath, breathing heavily. When she looks closer, she sees his eyes are teary, and the sight is enough to break her heart. 

“Oh, Jake,” she murmurs, pulling him close to her and wrapping her arms around him, squeezing tight. 

He lets himself be held, holding onto her like a baby koala as he tucks his face into her neck. 

Nightmares had been a semi-regular occurrence for Jake since he came back from prison. She knows he hates them beyond words, saying they make him feel helpless. 

So without fail, every time he gets them, she’s there, always ready to help him talk them out or distract him or 

Jake sighs shakily, and Amy rubs his back softly, humming quietly the same way her mother did whenever she had nightmares in her childhood.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks. 

He shakes his head, his grip on her tightening. 

“Just… Just hold me?” he says, muffled by her skin. 

“Always, babe,” she murmurs, kissing the top of his head. 

There’ll be plenty of time for talking in the morning, but for now, she just holds him close until his breathing evens out again. She follows not long after, her arms still weaved protectively around him even in sleep. 


	9. Having a Tickle Fight Until You're Breathless

Amy makes the cutest, most hilarious sound when she gets tickled. 

Jake hears it for the first time about a week into their relationship when she’s trying to keep the remote away from him, holding it behind her back and just out of his reach. Naturally, he resorts to bombarding her with tickles, and she lets out a sound somewhere between a wail and a cackle. 

It’s  _ easily _ one of the most adorable things he’s ever heard. 

He grins hugely at her laughter, and Amy groans, embarrassed. 

“Not a word, Peralta,” she mutters, and Jake chuckles. 

“But it’s so cute!”

“I sound like a dying animal.” 

“A  _ cute  _ dying animal,” he insists, and Amy huffs. 

“There’s no way you think that’s cute.”

Jake shrugs. 

“Well, I think everything you do is cute,” he says without thinking, his mouth abruptly snapping shut when he realizes the gravity of what he just said. 

It’s Amy’s turn to smile now as she crawls into his lap. “So, you think everything I do is cute, huh?”

“I don’t remember saying that,” he says quickly, his eyes darting around the room. 

“You literally  _ just  _ said it.” 

“And you know I have a bad memory!” 

Amy just shakes her head with narrowed eyes, and when she opens her mouth to speak again, Jake pounces. 

He tickles her sides again while peppering kisses over her face, and Amy laughs until she cries. 

Yup.  _ Definitely  _ the most adorable thing he’s ever heard. 


	10. Making Sure to Be Quiet While They're Taking a Nap

Jake mindfully tiptoes past Amy on his way to the vending machine, careful not to make a sound. 

She’s passed out on the break room couch after a long night in the interrogation room questioning a suspected drug lord. She never got home last night, so she’s still in her clothes from yesterday. Her hair’s all rumpled, and her exhaustion is plainly written all over her face, even in slumber. 

She  _ did  _ get the guy to confess, so it was all worth it, but Jake’s sure she’d rather be anywhere but the precinct right now. 

He’s thinking about going to request permission from Holt to take her home when Hitchcock and Scully amble into the room, their arms full of tupperware, before stopping in their tracks when they see her. 

“What’s she doing on our couch?!” Hitchcock asks, his voice  _ far  _ too loud. 

“Be  _ quiet _ !” Jake growls, keeping his voice low as he glances over at Amy. “She was up all night interrogating some crook. And she’s a light sleeper, so shut it!”

Scully gives Jake a confused look. 

“Why doesn’t she just go home?” he asks, before promptly dropping all his containers. 

Jake clenches his teeth, his hands balling into fists at his side. 

“I’m working on that. I really think you guys should go, though,” he says, trying to keep his voice down. 

Hitchcock opens his mouth to try and speak, and Jake decides he’s done taking chances, so he darts forward and ushers the pair out of the room. 

He returns to find Amy still sleeping peacefully, and he smiles big at the sight. He dips down to kiss her on the head before striding to Holt’s office with purpose, determined to get her home in their bed where she belongs. 


	11. Standing Between Them and a Busy Road

They’re walking home after dinner when Jake abruptly pulls them to a stop. 

“Is everything okay?” Amy asks, looking around to see if anything is out of the ordinary. 

“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” Jake assures. 

Then, he switches places with her so that he’s closer to the bustling Brooklyn street. 

When she realizes it, Amy’s heart melts just a little bit. 

“What’s that for?” she asks, voice light. 

Jake shrugs bashfully. “You never know what could happen. And I want to make sure you’re safe, you know?” He pauses. “Also, you’re a pretty big klutz. There’s no telling when you’ll fall into the street,” he teases. 

Amy shakes her head amusedly and takes his hand again, pulling him forward and continuing their walk. 

“I’m sure I would’ve handled myself fine, but it’s still a sweet gesture.” 

She leans over to peck him on the cheek, and she feels him smile before she pulls away. 

Right when she does though, a loud honk sounds out as a car swerves. It narrowly misses the sidewalk and instead goes right through a puddle close to where they’re standing, splashing dirty water everywhere and leaving Jake  _ drenched _ . 

They both stand in shock for a moment, but then Jake’s lips curve up in a wry grin. 

“I told you! You never know what could happen!” he boasts. 

Amy can’t help but laugh at him, incredulous he could sound so pleased after getting soaked. She does feel a little bad for him though, so she wipes off some of the water dripping down his face. 

“I’m sorry you had to get splashed for me,” she says. 

Jake waves his hand dismissively. 

“I’d get splashed by the dirtiest water in Brooklyn for you any day.” 


	12. Giving Them Your Dessert When You Eat Out Because It’s Their Favorite

Amy Santiago is a cheesecake fiend. 

It’s one of the few things Jake didn’t know about her until after they started dating. He’d found out when her tipsy self ordered a slice for the two of them to share for dessert on their first date at Bouche Manger. She’d wolfed it down before he even got a chance to pick up his fork, something he brings up with glee every chance he gets.

She’s embarrassed to no end about it, but it’s just one of the many things about her that endears him. 

So when they’re on a date and he sees her eyes zero in on the cheesecake displayed on the restaurant's desert menu, he doesn’t hesitate to order it once they finish their entrees. 

“I promise I’ll let you have some this time,” she says, her voice teasing. 

Jake chuckles. “Are you sure? Should I have ordered two slices?”

Amy just rolls her eyes. “Shut it, Peralta, or you won’t get  _ your  _ dessert when we get home.” 

His eyes widen a little, his body suddenly buzzing. 

“Oh. And what would that dessert be?”

She smiles at him, all perfect and seductive. 

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see, hm?”

He’s  _ definitely _ going to have to wait, because if the way Amy’s eyes light up when their dessert is finally set in front of them, taking it to go is out of the question. 

Without wasting any time, she digs right in, moaning dreamily when she takes the first bite. 

Jake doesn’t reach for his fork though, and she lifts an eyebrow at him when she finishes her half. 

“You don’t want any?” 

He smiles softly and shakes his head. “You go ahead and finish it.” 

She looks at him quizzically, but she doesn’t question it, squeezing his hand gratefully before finishing. 

He still gets to taste the cheesecake on her lips when they get home. 


End file.
